Boat Race 2025 LIVE: Latest updates as Cambridge and Oxford do battle once again

Cambridge have pulled a length ahead as the crews approach the Hammersmith Bridge.

Cambridge have received a couple of white flags after drifting across the middle line.

But they have been able to get into a comfortable rhythm.

BACK UNDERWAY! Sir Matthew Pinsent wondered whether to disqualify Oxford after clashing oars with Cambridge but they survived and the race is resumed.

Drama. The women’s race will be restarted, with the advantage given to Cambridge by a third of a length. It’s Oxford who looked to be at fault.

We are underway! Sir Matthew Pinsent, who is on race umpire duties, waves his red flag and off we go. In 19 minutes or so, we will have a winner.

And it’s Cambridge who have made a flying start, jumping ahead by a seat or two. Oxford are given a warning as they drift to the Cambridge boat.

AND THERE’S A CLASH! OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE TANGLE AND WE ARE STOPPING THE RACE!

The crews are in the water and we’re almost ready to go! Oxford have the ‘Surrey’ side as they look to end Cambridge’s dominance in this race.

Starting from Putney Bridge, the race will go past Craven Cottage in the first stretch. The Championship Course is four miles and 374 yards (6.8 km) long, stretching between Putney and Mortlake on the south bank of the River Thames in south west London.

Oxford won the toss so picked the slightly more ‘favourable’ line of the River Thames, which takes the shorter route of the second major bend of the race.

Here’s a reminder of the team news:

Daniel Orton (Cox), Heidi Long (Stroke), Kyra Delray, Annie Anezakis, Sarah Marshall, Alexia Lowe, Tessa Haining, Lilli Freischem, Sarah Polson (Bow)

Jack Nicholas (Cox), Samy Morton (Stroke), Tash Morrice, Claire Collins, Carys Earl, Annie Wertheimer, Sophia Hahn, Gemma King, Katy Hempson (Bow)

The action will be shown live on the BBC

Two crews of eight rowing four miles down the Thames. The premise of the Boat Race, contested annually – and fiercely – by eternal rivals Oxford and Cambridge, is very simple. But the race has assumed not just a prized place in the British sporting calendar, but also a place in the national consciousness, like Wimbledon or the Grand National.

Also like the Grand National, the Boat Race is not without its controversies. This year’s race has been dominated by an ugly row over selection that has prevented three PGCE students at Cambridge from taking part, while the spectre of water pollution and sewage in the Thames has once again reared its head. The Boat Race Company – the neutral body which runs the race – has opted for a policy of sweeping both issues under the carpet.

But a long-term issue the Boat Race must grapple with is over its image, as Flo Clifford explains.

Campaign group River Action has warned Boat Race winners to “think twice before throwing their cox in the Thames” after again finding concerning levels of e.coli along the course.

The group says it has found, since testing began on March 10, that 29.5% of samples exceeded safe limits for entering the water.

Boat Race organisers agreed quality remains an “ongoing concern” and will once again be referring crews for this Sunday’s races to British Rowing guidance to protect the health of the students participating.

Erica Popplewell, River Action’s head of communities, said: “Right now, if the stretch of the Thames used for the Boat Race were an official bathing site it would be graded poor, the lowest possible rating.

“The government’s own advice for such water is ‘do not swim.’ So, we strongly suggest that the winning team on Sunday think twice before throwing their cox in the Thames.”

The 2025 Boat Race looks set to take place under a cloud with the row over selection rumbling on but the race’s organisers refusing to be drawn into the affair.

This build up to this year’s races has been overshadowed by a ban on PGCE students, which ruled out three of Cambridge’s Blue Boat crew, Molly Foxell, Kate Crowley, and Matt Heywood. Oxford insisted on the ban under the grounds that the teacher training qualification does not constitute a degree, although students on the course have competed for both sides in previous years without issue.

An independent panel initially imposed the ban, then reversed it when Cambridge appealed, and then re-upheld the ban when Oxford appealed on the grounds that it could not reverse its original decision.

The Cambridge men’s team doesn’t have the same international pedigree as their opposition number but makes up for it in experience, with 30-year-old James Robson – himself a spare for GB in Paris – the veteran of the day. The squad also includes Noam Mouelle and Luca Ferraro, both two-time Boat Race winners with Cambridge, and Douwe de Graaf, a member of GB’s development squad for LA 2028.

• Ollie Boyne (Cox)
• Douwe de Graaf (Stroke)
• Simon Hatcher
• James Robson
• George Bourne
• Gabriel Mahler
• Luke Beever
• Noam Mouelle
• Luca Ferraro (Bow)